Global leaders met at the World Resilient Recovery Conference on June 3 to launch the Priority Actions to Enhance Readiness for Resilient Recovery, a new set of guidelines to help countries prepare better for disasters and rebuild stronger afterward. The United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR) developed these ten actions after talking with officials from 130 countries and getting input from over 4,000 experts worldwide.
The actions focus heavily on putting communities at the center of disaster recovery. One key priority calls for local governments to get more authority, resources, and funding to lead recovery efforts in their areas. Another emphasizes building up local skills and capacity so communities can bounce back faster when disasters hit.
Kamal Kishore, who heads UNDRR, said the conference changed its name from World Reconstruction Conference to highlight a shift “from reconstructing physical assets to ensuring human recovery.” The goal isn’t just rebuilding schools and hospitals, but making sure children can learn safely and communities can get back to work, he explained.
The new priorities build on Japan’s “Build Back Better” concept, which came out of lessons learned from the 1995 Great Hanshin Earthquake. Japanese Vice Minister Hiroaki Hara noted that this approach means rebuilding to higher standards so infrastructure can better serve communities long-term.
Ambassador Christian Frutiger from the conference organizing committee said the ten actions work together as “interconnected pieces of a larger puzzle” and called on governments to start putting them into practice. The disaster risk reduction community will track progress at upcoming events, including a high-level forum in September and regional meetings throughout 2025.
